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Rawalakot : 10 alleged terrorists have been arrested by Rawalakot police in a search operation today. Operation was conducted on the basis of information provided by some undisclosed persons which was later verified by security agencies. SP poonch Riaz Bukhari told the news that the alleged terrorists were arrested from a house from the town area "Kasai Gali" in Rawalakot. 7 of those 10 belong to Swat, Pakistan and 3 are the local people. It's said that they were also involved in the terror activities that took place last year in Rawalakot and adjoining areas. Police told that further actions will be taken on the basis of information provided by these alleged persons.

KARACHI, March 27: A young man was gunned down by unidentified men on M.A. Jinnah Road near the Radio Pakistan building in the early hours of Sunday.A duty officer at the Preedy police station said that the victim was in his early 20s and his body had been shifted to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.The incident occurred at around 2am when

JOSEPH LELYVELD’S hypothesis (in his just released bookGreat Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India) that Mahatma Gandhi left Kasturba to spend two years with his architect associate Hermann Kallenbach to further an alleged homosexual relationship, exposes a complete disregard for facts.

In October 2010, Mohammad Abdullah alias Abdullah Inqualabi held a meeting around 10 fellow terror operatives in Shopian of Jammu & Kashmir on the instructions of his handlers sitting in Pakistan. The coming together of all these terror operatives was an indication that Pakistan-based outfits are pooling in their resources.

It was decided in the meeting that Inqualabi will go to Delhi to set a base there and start preparing for a spectacular strike. But before he could make headway in his plan he was arrested by the special cell of Delhi in an Intelligence Bureau (IB) backed operation.

To admire Geelani, it is not necessary to subscribe to his political views. But like it or not he has made his place in the hearts & minds of Kashmiris, young & old. In fact he has already occupied the centre-stage of Kashmir politics, wherefrom it will be impossible to de-throne him in immediate future.
In more ways than one, India itself is responsible for this situation and the mess it is finding itself in Kashmir today. By indulging in political misadventures from day one, sheer apathy & indifference towards the political aspirations of people, the promotion of unaccountable governance, the grievances of Kashmiris' have transformed into despair & hatred throughout the Kashmir valley.More : Continued here

Islamabad : Sihala Road, connecting the sensitive Kahuta, has been in a dilapidated condition for more than three years.The section of the road passing through the Model Town Humak needs repair as whenever it rains it becomes impossible for motorists to pass through it. ‘The News’ learnt that dozens of serious accident occurred on the road because of its dilapidated condition in which many precious lives were lost.Sihala Road was constructed in the 1970s and its carpeting was done on the directives of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan.The single track dilapidated road is the only source for all kinds of traffic to approach the Model Town Humak, Sihala, Kahuta and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Motorists are facing great difficulties in driving their vehicles on the road. A major portion of Sihala Road, between Humak village and Model Town Humak, remains inundated in sewage.Heavy traffic plies on Sihala Road because of industrial area. There are more than 100 big and small industrial units along the road.Talking to ‘The News,’ motorists and residents of the Model Town Humak, said that they have submitted several applications with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for repair and renovation of the road, but all in vain. The heavy traffic, including 20-wheelers, trucks and public transport, passes through the road.Model Town Mohallah Committee General Secretary Malik Muhammad Nasir said that the concerned department and elected members are not taking interest in the development of the locality. “We are facing great difficulties due to dilapidated condition of Sihala Road.”When ‘The News’ contacted CDA spokesman Malik Muhammad Saleem, he said that they would start repair work on Sihala Road soon. He admitted that Sihala Road is a busy road and used for heavy traffic

MUZAFFARABAD (INP): AJK flood affectees have blamed the Revenue Department of Azad Jammu and Kashmir of awarding Watan cards to the influential people of the area while deserving and poor genuine people have been deprived of this facility. A group of flood-hit people of AJK told INP that deserving people have not been given Watan cards by the Revenue Department of AJK because the poor people have neither any approach to the officials nor they can influence them to acquire the cards. Sources said that merely less than 3 percent deserving people had been given the Watan cards and rest of them have been ignored because the officials of the Revenue Department were only considering the cases of only influential people and ignoring the applications of the deserving one. "Our cases were not considered by the officials of the Revenue Department because we have neither any money to bribe them to consider our applications nor we have other means to influence them," the flood-effectees blamed. All the benefits extended by the government of Pakistan to the flood-hit people including the Watan cards were being enjoyed by the affluent and those who have terms with the officials of Revenue Department, they accused.

LONDON, March 11 (APP)- Azad Kashmir Police has decided to establish an overseas police complaint cell for the British Kashmir Diaspora to deal with their grievances.The decision was announced by Tarik Khokhar, Inspector-General, Police, Azad Kashmir, while addressing a community meeting at Slough on the outskirts of London last evening.The IG who is currently on an official visit to the UK on the invitation of the Home office and Metropolitan Police, has met members of Kashmiri and Pakistanis communities in various cities of the UK to know first-hand their grievances from the police administration in Azad Kashmir.
Khokhar told the meeting that he was fully aware of the problems faced by expatriate Pakistanis including cases of kidnap for ransom, police heavy-handedness, lack of response, tribal-oriented litigation and targeting of the overseas Pakistanis by the criminal gangs including some rotten apples from within the police services.
He told the community that the decision to set up the cell was taken on the demand of the expatriate community members.

“The Complaint Cell has been established in the Central Police office (IGP Office), Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu & Kashmir to receive process, inquire and redress the complaints of the overseas community on a fast track basis,” Khokhar told the meeting.
He said that the Complaints cell will be monitored and supervised directly by the Inspector General of Police, AJK, and managed by the Personal Staff Officer (PSO) to IGP on daily basis.
Khokhar also informed the community of the serious problems the police force in AJK was facing due to the economic situation of Pakistan and the lack of funds.
He said with a shoe-string budget the police was doing everything to perform their duties in the best possible manner and to serve the communities.
He informed how the police wants to map all the major AJK cities with CCTV cameras to keep an eye on criminal elements who take advantage of the lack of modern surveillance technology.
He also informed of the plans to set up small mobile units at the grassroots level in major cities to create a better and direct policing interaction with the local communities.
He appealed to the communities to also assist the police in improving its operations, not through monetary grants but taking interest in neighbourhood and community projects in collaboration with the police.
The IGP invited the community to interact with the AJK police to create a better sense of things and to improve the situation at every level of the policing.

LAHORE - Defending champion WAPDA secured their first victory in the 46th National Men's Volleyball Championship, easing past a weak challenge from AJK in straight sets 25-13, 25-14, 25-10 here on Saturday at WAPDA Sports Complex. Four other matches were decided on the second day as all the top teams including Navy, PAF, Punjab and Police staged wins. WAPDA led throughout the match against lowly AJK, who failed to match the speed and agility of their fast moving opponents. AJK lacked in stamina and technique. WAPDA maintained an iron grip through Aimal Kahn, Farooq Khan, Mohib Rasool and Muhammad Imran.
Meanwhile, PAF routed Higher Education Commission in straight sets 25-17, 25-19, 25-16. PAF spikers demonstrated brilliance and coordination to outplay HEC. Muhammad Saqib Moon and Ismail Khan played key role in PAF’s success. Army had an easy sailing over Sindh as they beat them in straight sets 25-15, 25-6, 25-6, exhibiting quick moves and powerful serve game. Navy overpowered FATA in a one sided affair 25-9, 25-9, 25-13. Navy remained in total control throughout the match as Wasit Ali and Syed Shuja Abbas led from the front. In another match, Punjab beat Balochistan 25-19, 25-14, 25-15 Today’s Matches: KPK v Navy, Railways v WAPDA, Punjab v Army, Police v PAF and Sindh vs Balochistan.

New Delhi, March 26: India will not want Shahid Afridi’s boys to prolong their stay in the country by winning Wednesday’s match, but some others from across the frontier are welcome to longer visits.

New Delhi today “unilaterally” eased travel restrictions across the Line of Control (LoC) to increase people-to-people contact.

Visitors from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) can now stay in Jammu and Kashmir for up to six months and will be allowed multiple entries, the foreign office said.

The move comes a day after Manmohan Singh invited Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to watch the March 30 India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final at Mohali. Gilani and his wife are likely to come although an official confirmation is awaited from Islamabad.

Till now, the entry permit for cross-LoC travel remained valid for four weeks, with a provision for a two-week extension at the discretion of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

A further two weeks could be added in case of health or family emergencies if the foreign ministry and the state government so recommended.

The multiple-entry offer, too, is new: only one-time travel was allowed across the LoC on a single permit.

A foreign ministry statement said: “To encourage more people-to-people contact across the Line of Control, the Government of India has unilaterally decided to increase the stay period for the persons visiting Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) to six months with multiple entries.”

At their meeting in Thimphu in February, the two countries’ foreign secretaries had agreed that their governments should take steps to increase people-to-people contact.

Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir had also agreed that the two sides should resume dialogue on all issues, and that Bashir would visit India by July to review with Rao “the progress in the dialogue process”.

That meeting is to be followed by one between the two foreign ministers. But before all this, the two countries will have their bureaucrats meet and discuss a range of issues.

These include “counter-terrorism (including progress on the 26/11 trial in Pakistan), humanitarian issues, peace and security, including confidence-building measures, Jammu and Kashmir, promotion of friendly exchanges, Siachen, economic issues, the Wullar Barrage and Tulbul navigation project, and Sir Creek”.

As part of this “comprehensive dialogue”, the two home secretaries are scheduled to meet in New Delhi on March 28-29, that is, on the eve of the World Cup semi-final.

Sources said Singh might take the opportunity to discuss with Gilani, on the sidelines of the match, what “deliverables” can be achieved by July. More so, because the bureaucratic talks may become long-drawn given that both countries have lobbies opposed to the resumption of the dialogue process.

A young Pakistani fan at the Wagah border on Saturday. He is on his way to Mohali to cheer his team in the March 30 semi-final. (PTI)

Date for the General Elections for Legislative assembly has not been announced so far but it is believed that elections are going to be by the end of June 2011. Opposition parties, particularly Pakistan People's party AJK is criticizing the Attique khan's government for deliberately delaying the elections. While all this mess prevails, the ruling party Muslim conference is going deep and deep in troubles with each passing day and as a wild estimate, almost half of the Muslim conference has already joined Pakistan Muslim League (N) AJK which is headed by Sardar Sikander Hayat and Raja Farooq Haider. It is said that 8 more ministers including Sardar Najeeb Naqi, Chaudhary Rukhsar and many others are also in contact with PML(N) while Mehmood Riaz has been approached by Pakistan People's Party. Even the personal charisma of Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan has not worked here and Muslim conference is probably facing the worst crises of its history. Political Gurus are throwing blame on Sardar Attique khan for putting Muslim conference in such crises.

Election campaigns have been started by almost all the political parties at some level and corner meetings and rallies are going on. Candidates has not been decided yet by most of the political parties but potential candidates are found in public to grasp the support from them. Pakistan Peoples party is considered to be the strongest party in these elections. Mirpur & Bhimber are the strongholds of PPP while Sardar Qamar Zaman from Bagh, Sardar Yaqoob khan from Rawalakot, Chaudhary Lateef Akbar form Muzaffarabad and Mian Waheed from Neelum are also among the strong candidates for assembly from their respective constituencies. Sardar Mohammad Hussain, Sardar Akhtar Rabbani and Sardar Ghulam Sadiq are also giving tough times to the opponents in Sudhnuti.

Pakistan Muslim League (N) AJK has Kotli and Muzaffarabad as its stronghold.Sardar Sikander Hayat and co from Kotli and Raja Farooq Haider and co from Muzaffarabad are the strongest candidates so far in their constituencies. But Outside Kotli and Muzaffarabad, it is hard to believe that PML(N) would be able to even win one single seat from AJK constituencies. PML(N) is expecting almost 60% seats of Refugees but that is unpredictable so far.

\Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party under the leadership of Sardar Khalid Ibrahim Khan has also emerged to be a strong political entity this time in Poonch, Bagh and Sudhnati. It has come out of the realm of one-man show and now they are contesting on almost every constituency of AJK. Muslim Conference and PML(N) has approached JKPP but continuing their principled politics they refused to form any alliance this time with any of the political party so far. Sardar Khalid Ibrahim Khan has an edge over Sardar Yaqoob from Rawalakot Town constituency while Sardar Mehmood Iqbal Khan is giving a tough time to Sardar Siab Khalid khan.

Many changes have to happen before elections and political games are ON. Lets see who takes the lead this time. May the deserving one gets the lead.

ISLAMABAD, March 23: Given the frequency of natural disasters in the world and the devastation that they cause, one would have expected public institutions to welcome offers of training in survival methods, but not the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE).

According to a senior official, the FDE showed no interest in the offer of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to train some 400,000 students in its institutions in disaster management training free of cost.

CDA`s emergency and disaster management (EDM) directorate had sent a letter containing the offer to the director general of the FDE a few months back but got no response.

The official said the EDM wing had highlighted the importance of the training to cope with any natural disaster, especially an earthquake.

“The CDA had offered the FDE director general that its EDM wing can impart disaster management training to the 400,000 students studying in around 400 educational institutions in the capital,” said the official.

He said looking at the rising disasters the world over, a proper training programme for the students on disaster management drills would be highly beneficial to save lives. However, it seems that the FDE is not interested in the offer, he regretted.

“The EDM wing is capable of imparting training to such a large number of students within a few months.”

The official said they had even sent a reminder to the FDE but still there was no response.

In our reminder: “We have drawn her attention towards the much needed training which can be vital for saving lives during natural disasters.”

He said the EDM wing had skilled manpower, machinery and gadgets for running life-saving rescue operations during disasters. The authority also has a canine unit having several dogs trained on search and rescue operations.

“We have also prepared the training programme and assigned rescue workers to train the students,” he said.

It may be noted that several thousands students were killed in the October 2005 earthquake which hit parts of northern Pakistan, including Azad Kashmir.

When this scribe contacted the FDE Director General Shaheen Khan, she said she was not aware of any such letter sent by the CDA.

“I will see it (on Thursday)…I have to go through and check the files,” she responded when her attention was drawn towards the matter relating to almost 400,000 students.

“You can remind me (on Thursday) and then I will be in a position to give you an answer,” she said.